Death Note Vol. 13Review

Share.

A guide to the series, including interviews with the creators, is under the microscope.

By Richard George

I was a bit late to the Death Note scene. After hearing the name of the series for a while, curiosity got the better of me – I finally asked someone what the story was about. Needless to say, the concept grabbed hold of my fascination for edgy, noir-esque fiction, and the supernatural and moral drama elements guaranteed I'd love the series. And that's precisely what happened. Despite my focus on comics, and despite a whole bunch of great storylines running through the various publications in that industry, Death Note was single-handedly the best thing I read in 2007. Very few things even came close.

In a bit of fortune, my run with Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata's masterpiece occurred after all 12 volumes were available. I didn't have to wait several months for each tankobon to find its way to local store shelves. I suppose the downside to all of this was that I was able to blitz through the entire series within a couple months.

Fortunately this past week has been kind to my deprived, Shinigami-loving self. Not only did Sideshow Collectibles ship me a statue of Light and L, and not only did the Death Note: Another Note novel arrive in the mail, but the 13th volume did as well. You have no idea how quickly I started reading and opening boxes.

We'll have impressions and reviews for everything I just mentioned in the near future, but this review is focusing on Death Note Vol. 13: How to Read. For those not familiar, this is a companion piece to the core series, which does come to a close with the 12th installment. There are a variety of materials enclosed here, from interviews to biographies to unknown facts and even the "pilot manga" that resulted in the core Death Note series being approved for production. This will more or less answer every question any Death Note fan has ever had (there was one unanswered that came to mind – more on that in a minute).

The entire book (which is actually slightly larger than a standard manga volume) is split into six major sections: How to Read (Characters), How to Think (Tsugumi Ohba), How to Read (Story), How to Draw (Takeshi Obata), How to Read (Rules & Tricks), How to Create (Ohba & Obata) and How to Play (Ryuk's Notebook). Each of these sections is then packed with a variety of materials. There is also sealed sleeve in the front of the book containing a card that reveals L's true identity (we would have preferred something less gimmicky as the sleeve's thickness made handling the book rather annoying).

The characters section is fairly basic, but a great resource for fans. Every single character, from the Mafia henchmen to Light and L are profiled. Major characters are given a "attribute analysis," analyzing their intellect and more (the attributes listed vary depending on the character). Key ideas involving each person, such as "Career" or "Fate" are listed along with panels from the manga. As if that wasn't enough, the authors then profile all of the Shinigami. This was particularly fascinating to me since many of these god-like creatures aren't seen much. One thing that is never brought up in the series is if we've actually seen the Shinigami King. You'll find that answer, as well as Takeshi Obata's design, within these pages.

The companion book then moves to "How to Think," which features an extensive interview with Tsugumi Ohba. Generally speaking this is very well done, and it allows Ohba to speak extensively about his designs and intentions for this popular franchise. I'll refrain from spoiling some of the great revelations, but it is fascinating to see how far ahead Ohba had planned as well as what he thought about various characters and moments. A slight annoying bit is that much of this material, and this occurs with the Takeshi Obata interview as well, is repeated in subsequent areas and during the Ohba/Obata interview. It's not a huge deal, but after a while you might feel like you've learned all you can (which isn't entirely true). The biggest disappointment for me in this interview (and throughout any of them) is that one question is not asked. I want to know if Ohba and Obata are interested in doing a sequel. It's not a far-fetched idea and some of the wording used in these interviews almost suggest that one could happen. Why the interviewer never follows through on this is completely baffling to me.

Here, in one authoritative volume: everything you need to know about Death Note, the best-selling manga series. Featuring complete character biographies, detailed story-line summaries, production notes, and behind-the-scenes commentaries. Death Note 13: How to Read also includes exclusive interviews with creators Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata and a bonus manga chapter of never-before-translated material. Unless you own your very own death note, it doesn't get any better than this!